


Will You, Won't You

by fishfingersandjellybabies



Category: Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-26
Updated: 2016-10-26
Packaged: 2018-08-27 01:49:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8383204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fishfingersandjellybabies/pseuds/fishfingersandjellybabies
Summary: Grayson won’t kill for him, he won’t let him.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I always write about Dick being willing to kill for the bros, I wanted to do the opposite of that idea. I love Damian, and I also love him being threatened and in danger and Dick going to save him. Based off of the idea/major bruce plotpoint in Nightwing #7. More garbage from the upper midwest for you folk~

He grit his teeth as he moved from building to building.

_Not again, not again, not again._

He almost couldn’t believe it, except in all the ways that he could. Not weeks after he got Damian safe, and away from the Court’s grasp, he was threatened again.

This time by Raptor.

Oh, he was gonna ring that bastard’s neck.

The thought was terrifying, though, and Dick couldn’t help but hate himself, as he reached the intersection and turned left. Every danger the kid had been in as of late, every ounce of pain he’d felt, every _death_ – it’d been _his fault_.

 _“You need someone to take_ everything _from you.”_

Dick felt his fists tighten on his line.

Enough was enough. This was the final straw. No one was going to hurt his baby brother again. Least of all Raptor.

He was going to kill that fucker first.

“I…am not good at this.” Tiger hummed through his comm. “But I think…I think you’re _wrong_ here, Nightwing. I think you need to calm down.”

“Not until Robin is safe.” Dick growled. “You ready for extraction?”

“I doubt I will be necessary, you won’t let the child out of your sight, but yes.” Tiger sighed. “I’m here, and the team is ready to get your brother home.”

“He doesn’t need to see the bloodshed. He’s had enough of that.” Dick countered, landing on the roof at last. “Promise me, Tiger.”

He could tell Tiger was rolling his eyes. “I’ll get him home.”

“By _any_ means necessary.”

Tiger paused. “…Any means necessary.”

Dick grinned. “You’re a pal. See you on the other side, Tony.”

He shut off the communicator before Tiger could respond, and jumped into the open roof hatch.

He didn’t sneak, knew he didn’t need to. Just walked through the building, weapons at the ready. Raptor was expecting him, after all.

He could hear the other singing loudly. Not that ridiculous theme song, but some pop song. Miley Cyrus or Shakira or something.

As if Damian’s torture wasn’t already bad enough.

He found them in a control room. A tiny almost-closet, filled to the brims with monitors and camera feeds. Damian, in jeans and a hoodie, was tied to a wheeled chair in the center, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. He was conscious, though, and looked furious, watching as Raptor danced around him, turning his chair this way and that.

Dick watched for a second, swallowed the hard lump in his throat, and demanded: “Stop.”

Damian’s head jerked up, and Raptor did what he was told.

“…I debated, you know.” Raptor hummed pleasantly. “Between the kiddo and his dad.”

“No.” Dick hissed, stepping forward. “No, you let him go right now.”

“Ah, ah.” Raptor sang, lowering his clawed to Damian’s throat. “Take another step and all that, Dick.”

Damian scowled and tried to slouch away from the claws.

“He has _nothing_ to do with this.” Dick tried.

“He has _everything_ to do with this.” Raptor shrugged. “He’s the reason you aren’t a better hero. He’s the reason you _refuse_ to do what _needs_ to be done.”

“He’s not.” Dick returned. “And I swear, Raptor, if you lay a _finger_ on him, I’ll kill you where you stand.”

Damian twitched, and his eyes widened.

“Nice threat.” Raptor’s claw brushed Damian’s throat, leaving a line in its wake. “Dare you to follow through.”

Dick gripped his escrima, and twisted to throw it forward. “With pleasure.”

Raptor grinned, and shoved Damian’s chair into the wall, lifting his arm to block the throw. He caught the fist Dick threw next, and braced himself against the monitor banks.

Dick didn’t hesitate to put a hand on Raptor’s throat, squeezing before he had a good grip.

“Patron,” Dick sneered into his communicator. “Ready for extrac-”

Without warning, there was the sound of rolling, and a chair slamming into Dick’s side. Raptor slipped from his grip as he collapsed into a table, the chair pinning him there.

“Don’t!” Damian shouted. “Don’t you _dare_!”

“Rob…” Dick coughed. “Damian, what-”

“You _will not_ kill for me!” Damian pushed, struggling against the ropes. “If you do, you’ll be doing _exactly_ what he wants.”

“Yeah, Grayson.” Raptor smirked, stepping towards them. “Exactly-”

“Shut up, you waste of space.” Damian snapped, kicking Raptor in the gut as soon as he was close enough. “I’ll deal with you in a moment.”

“Oh, _kiddo_.” Raptor chuckled sweetly, rubbing gently at his stomach. “You couldn’t deal with me in your giant house, what makes you think-”

“Call me ‘kiddo’ again and I’ll kill you _myself_.” Damian rolled his eyes. “And for your information – I _knew_ when you entered the grounds. You aren’t the only one with a Grayson-related motive to meet.”

“Oh?”

But Damian paid him no mind, turning back to Dick. “I will not let you ruin yourself for me.”

Dick gaped. “Ruin?”

“We have already lost Red Robin. While I trust you to toe that line better than Father believes, I will not chance losing another brother to death or darkness or otherwise.” Damian pressed. “If you kill him, you’re going to be falling into his trap. And I won’t let you. I won’t let _him do this_ to you. Not for anything, and especially not for _me_. You are too _good_ for this, and I won’t allow that to change. Now…if this man is rightly deserving of being killed, fine. Untie me and I will do the deed myself.”

Dick could only stare, and Raptor took his chance.

“See, Nightwing? You’re hesitating. All because of the _kid_.” He stepped closer again, reached out and dug his claws into Damian’s throat. Blood blossomed beneath the tips. “You’ve gotta start over. You’ve gotta lose everything to be the hero you want to-”

“I said, shove it.” Damian suddenly twisted further downwards, and kicked upwards, the bottom of his sneakers colliding with Raptor’s jaw. The man fell back, collapsing to the ground, and Damian twisted his chair, pushing off the table to roll backwards. He trapped Raptor’s arm under his wheels, and immediately began stomping his heel down into his fingers with the most strength he could. Dick heard the crack of bones. Raptor grunted in pain. “I’m not talking to you.”

Dick could only blink, as Damian continued his assault, and clumsily lean forward to undo his binds. As soon as they were loose enough, he tugged Damian from the chair, pulling him backwards until they were back in the doorway, and holding him protectively against his chest.

“Nice moves.” Raptor groaned, lifting himself up onto his uninjured hand. “Scrappy. Dickie here teach you how to do that?”

“Does it matter?” Damian hissed, even as Dick spun him around, and held his face, looking for any more damage than the split lip and scratches on his neck.

“Are you alright?” Dick asked quietly, running his finger through the blood, and looking down Damian’s body. “I’m so sorry he did this to you. That he found you at _all_ -”

“Why?” Damian asked honestly, and Dick looked up at him. “I had it handled.”

Dick gaped for another second, and then smiled hatefully. “You’ve been getting into an awful lot of danger on my account, Damian. And I _refuse_ to let someone else try to take you from m-”

“No one can take me from you. As memory serves, many have tried, and I always come back.” Damian smiled almost shyly, but it quickly turned back into a frown. “But what I will not stand for is someone trying to take _you_ from _me_ , _especially_ some lowlife who named himself after a dinosaur.”

He glanced over his shoulder, glaring pointedly at Raptor. The man just grinned.

“Killing for me is not a line I will let you cross. I am not worth such a price.” Damian continued, turning back to Dick. “Promise me, Grayson, you won’t.”

“Damian-”

“ _Promise_.” Damian pushed. “Or I’ll have to consider never forgiving you.”

Dick smiled, ran his hand over Damian’s hair. “I promise to keep you _safe_ , from anything and _everyone_ , no matter what.” He looked over Damian’s shoulder. “Even really lame dinosaurs.”

“That is not an answer, and you know it.” Damian pouted. “But…if it gets you off of your current emotional rampage for me, and lets me take you home untainted by that darkness, then it is good enough.” He let Dick finish his preliminary look over, before pulling away from Dick’s hands, and turning back to Raptor. “For now.”

Raptor already had his glove whirring, already preparing for his next attack, either against Damian or Dick, but he didn’t get the chance. Damian merely walked on him when he was close enough. Balancing on his bad arm as he walked it like a tightrope, and bouncing carefully on his ribs, as he used his body as a stepstool to reach the closest computer.

“Damian, what are you…”

“You got your ass handed to you by an eleven-year-old.” Damian hummed to Raptor, as he typed feverishly on the keyboard. “That can’t be good for your _brand_.”

“Who said you _beat_ me?” Raptor wheezed.

“Me, as soon as I hit this button.” Damian smacked it flashily, and the computer announced the deletion of every file and system in the machine. Damian looked down with a shit-eating grin. “It also deleted any code you have to any safehouse, and announced your location to Grayson’s Spyral friend. I believe he was already on standby assisting Grayson in rescuing me, and should be here momentarily to collect you instead.”

And for the first time since he had the displeasure of meeting Raptor, the man frowned.

Dick took a little too much glee in tapping his comm. unit. “Patron, ready for extraction. Though, probably not who you were expecting.”

Raptor suddenly reached for Damian’s ankle, but the younger just slammed his heel into his ribs.

“You’re wrong, you know.” He explained, under Raptor’s howl of pain. “All the people in Grayson’s life. You think we’re his _weakness_. That taking us out will give you the upper hand.” Carefully, he crouched, getting as close to Raptor’s face as he could from his perch. “But you’re dead wrong.”

Raptor stared up at him.

“Threaten us and you create a monster.” Damian whispered. “The worst monster this world has ever seen. Not even the Batman himself would be able to bring Grayson down in that state.”

Raptor slowly looked over towards Dick, who was still in the doorway. Face cold and still angry. Tense and ready to pounce if Raptor touched Robin wrong. Just like Raptor had wanted him to be. But he could see what the kid was talking about. He could see the chaos in those eyes, and he realized…yeah. That was a monster he wouldn’t be able to control. Not in the way he planned, anyway.

“…But come after him again. I _dare_ you.” Damian hissed in his face. “I don’t care your history, I don’t care your plans for him or your thoughts on his ability. You are _not_ his partner. You are not his _friend_. His original trust in you was misplaced, and rest assured, I will _not_ let him make that mistake with you again.”

“…Big words from such a little kid.” Raptor sneered, looking back up at him.

“Your jealousies will get you nowhere.” Damian sighed, slamming his foot against Raptor’s ribs one more time before stepping daintily back to the floor. “Your attempt to destroy my brother failed. Now go crawl back into your sewer, you worthless lizard, and don’t let me see you – in general or near Grayson – _ever_ again.”

There was an awkward cough from the door, and Damian looked up to find Tiger standing next to Dick, a calming hand on his shoulder as he watched him carefully, and with a small smirk.

“Patron.” He greeted, walking nonchalantly to the door. Tiger nodded to him. “Good to see you again.”

Dick blinked. “… _Again_?”

“I make a point to meet and vet all of your…friends.” Damian waved off, keeping his attention on Tiger. “I trust you’ll know what to do with him?”

“Of course.” Tiger assured. “He won’t be bothering the former Agent 37 or anyone else any time soon.”

“Wait, did you guys team up without me or something?” Dick accused. “Tiger, I think I should be offended that you were hanging out with my baby broth-”

“Good. He’s all yours then.” Damian nodded once more, then turned to Dick, quickly sliding their hands together, and immediately stepping out into the hallway. “Come, Grayson. I believe there’s an arcade in this town. And if not that, then I’m sure an ice cream shop. You’re buying.”

Dick glanced back at Tiger, even as Damian dragged him away. “What…just…?”

“He saved you, as it’s now clear to me he always has.” Tiger replied simply with a smile. “Perhaps you should _thank him_ for it, for once.”

Dick blinked, then returned the grin as he spun around and tugged Damian into his side. Damian looked up at him quizzically, innocently, as he pushed his weight comfortably against the elder’s hip.

“With pleasure.”


End file.
